Villars-le-Sec
Villars- le -Sec is a commune in the French department of Territoire de Belfort in the Franche -Comté.
Geography
Villars- le -Sec is located at 552 m above the sea, about 16 km east-southeast of the town of Montbéliard (air line). The village is located in the northern foothills of the Jura Mountains, in an open trough to the east on the Tabular Jura plateau west of the Valley of Allaine, near the border with Switzerland.
The area of 3.05 km ² municipal area includes a portion of the northern French Jura. The entire area occupied by the Kalkhochfläche of Villars, which is on average 560 m. The plateau is mainly consisted of arable and meadow land, but also shows some forest areas. There are no surface watercourses, because the rainwater seeps into the karst underground. To the north of the municipality floor extends to the edge of the New Bois. In the west, the land rises slowly to the amount Les Hauts, on the 621 meters, the highest elevation of Villars -le -Sec is achieved.
Neighboring communities of Villars -le -Sec are Croix in the West, Saint- Dizier- l'Évêque in the northwest and the Swiss towns Boncourt in the north, Lower Allaine the east and Bure in the south.
History
Is first mentioned Villars in 1303 under the name Ueler. Since the beginning of the 14th century the village was Delle under the rule. In the first half of the 14th century Villars came under the suzerainty of the Habsburg dynasty. Together with the Sundgau it came with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia to the French crown. Since 1793 Villars belonged to the Department of Haut -Rhin, however, remained in 1871 as part of the Territoire de Belfort as opposed to the rest of Alsace in France.
Population
With 150 inhabitants ( 1 January 2011) Villars- le -Sec is one of the smallest municipalities of the department of Territoire de Belfort. After the population had decreased significantly in the first half of the 20th century (1886 222 people were still counted ), a continuous population growth was recorded since the early 1980s again.
Economy and infrastructure
Villars- le -Sec was until well into the 20th century a predominantly by agriculture (crops, orchards and livestock ) embossed village. Even today, the inhabitants live on the merits of the activity in the first sector. Outside of the primary sector, there are few jobs in the village. Some employed persons are also commuters who do their work in the surrounding larger towns and in the agglomeration Montbéliard.
The village is located far away from the major thoroughfares. The main access is from Delle. Further road links exist with Croix and Bure.
Attractions
The church of Notre -Dame de la Nativity was built in 1829. In the center a few farmhouses are preserved in the characteristic style of the Franche -Comté from the 17th to 19th centuries.